And because it’s a common rhetorical technique when someone is losing an argument to pick up on a highly controvertible asserion, even if it is off-topic, I’ll just cut you off:
“Did Enoch go to Heaven without being redeemed by Christ?” The answer is no. But Paul brings up a startling question by mentioning Sirach, which he wouldn’t bring up if he had stuck to Genesis.
God is the God of the living not the dead. Jesus stated that. That is why He was the God of Abraham, Isacc and Jacob. But we digress.
Sirach 44:
16 Enoch pleased the Lord and was transferred to heaven, an example for the conversion of all generations.
Hebrews 5:
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.
Genesis 5:
21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. 22 Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
There are all the verses. In Hebrews 11 we see Enoch did not die; he was taken by God; and he obtained witness (walked with God). All matches the Genesis account. Sirach adds: “an example for the conversion of all generations.” An excellent commentary, but Hebrews is not pointing to this
Ah but Paul did stick with Genesis. Look at the order of the figures mentioned. It is in order:
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the men of old gained approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.